The Durango High School cross country runners traveled to the Phoenix area for the sixth annual Desert Twilight Cross Country Festival. One of the largest multi-state cross country meets in the nation, the Desert Twilight attracted more than 6,000 runners with more than 15,000 spectators on hand.

The races, including top teams from Arizona and California, are staged at night because of the heat.

“We finished 10th in both the girls and boys categories,” Durango cross country coach David McMillan said in an email to The Durango Herald.

“The Demons ran their hearts out in the sweaty heat of the Arizona desert,” McMillan said. The temperature was 75 degrees when the Demons started their race at 9 p.m. local time.

Just two hours earlier, the temperature was 95 degrees.

“Joe and Shannon led the way with top-20 finishes,” McMillan said of the Maloney brother/sister duo. “And we had five (personal records).”

The prep 5K was staged on the Toka Sticks Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz.

DHS senior Joe Maloney finished 14th in the top boys high school division. He finished in 15 minutes, 58 seconds.

Bernie Montoya of Cibola High School in Yuma, Ariz., the No. 1-ranked high school runner in the country, won the race for the second consecutive year.